Monthly Archives: January 2021

……………………….August 2001 was a fun collection to do…..There were TWO SEPARATE GROUPS IN AUGUST shown on two separate shows…..Remember, I was the new “hot” kid on the block, so I got special treatment, and absolutely no one else was offering American Designer Sportswear on QVC….There was lots of suede [it was some what inexpensive to do then….everything out of China was inexpensive to do!] I introduced a new fabric for Linea….BOILED WOOL [a beautiful quality, not itchy at all as some were, because the quality of wool was superb]…..It is the first jacket at the top left. It was a color block jacket. My MIL Marianne had the black/grey/red combination, and it’s still hanging in her bedroom closet looking brand new!……The next jacket was suede in 3 color combinations. They were piped in a contrast suede color and had suede leaves and vines appliqued on top……..The next coat was a suede blazer coat. All of these jackets sold incredibly well, but the next jacket was the star. It was a boiled wool jacket with, if I remember correctly, wool felt leaves appliqued on top in contrast colors There was also a fancy border embroidery stitch [I think a zig zag in a wool yarn]. It was very pretty, and the ladies loved it. I saw quite a few women in NYC wearing it, and that rarely happened……….next the sweater with the applique leaves, and below is an additional solid suede topper…..I can’t believe all of the ‘ALL SUEDE” jackets and separates we did then…..next are are two shirts. The one to the left is a georgette tunic shirt with satin tonal trims, and the one to the extreme right is a suede tunic shirt with a contrast placket on one side….the side where  the buttons are sewn…….It amazes me looking back how inexpensive materials and labor were, because many of these pieces were very laborious, something that wasn’t an issue 20 years ago!

…………………… The second group of August 2001…..had even more suede with appliques, and another blazer coat with zig zag seams, and a long A-line suede skirt with zig zag seaming……..A silk charmuse shirt with leaf patterned emb and a sweater with embroidered leaves and vines going across the top was also part of this group. There were two prints both on silk satin charmuse….a floral and an Heraldic  pattern……and yet another tunic shirt, which were growing stronger and stronger in popularity……another style I introduced to QVC to go with my leggings!….LOL

……………………….Dear Ladies…..I was browsing though the Linea site and to my utter surprise this RIDING JACKET, A384508, which is now reduced to the incredible price of $66.42, it STILL avail in may sizes in all colors………LADIES…..this is one of my all time favorites and it’s is in the TCF and the workmanship is unsurpassed. The shape and length works for everyone. Big ladies look smaller and everyone looks like they are wearing a custom made jacket. I see the plaid in the Pine/Black and now the Red/Navy is almost gone. Don’t let this beauty slip through your fingers!!!!!! There are no more jackets coming…..ever! and this is too too good to pass up……..I bring it to your attention because it’ that good and I don’t want you to be sorry later!………………

P.S………same for the double zip TCF TOPPER. I can’t believe it’s still avail in that gorgeous Scarlet Red!

…………………The July 2001 group was inspired by Kilim rugs….their patterns and the colors…….Starting at the upper left is a Silk CD color block tunic shirt. In those days there were no minimums on how many colors you could do….There were 5 colors in this shirt….That would be impossible today unless it was a shirt well over $300 in silk.. The next sketch is that of my silk Kilim print tunic shirt. It came in two color combinations, and I have to say the quality of printing rivaled the factories in Italy. What many of the Italian companies did was make deals with these silk producing companies in China. If the Chinese factory kept supplying the Italian companies with the raw silk fabric unfinished [the Italians preferred to finish and print the fabrics themselves to get the hand exactly the way they wanted them], the Italians would send technicians over to the Chinese factories to teach them how to finish and print their own fabrics. I think the Italians were arrogant enough to think the Chinese could not ever come up to their standards and quality…..they were wrong……the Chinese learned QUICKLY! Years later when the Chinese government raised all of the prices of silk, even the raw silk, the Italians were screwed.  To combat this the Italians opened secondary less expensive divisions. They sent the prints over to China and the Chinese printed them and shipped them back to Italy on the Chinese silk. Since it was a Chinese product it was much less expensive. These were half the price of the Italian “Couture” print lines. Anne Klein 11 bought some of these prints, but most were done directly in China. Anne Klein Couture stayed with the Italian Couture lines. What the Chinese lacked, and still lack is creativity where prints are concerned. At AK11 and at Lai Apparel we always sent the prints for them to copy and produce. They are excellent at that….  Next to that is a zig zag intargia sweater in cotton acrylic……..next a fabulous unlined suede jacket. All of the seams were  CROCHETED together with a rayon yarn that had a sheen to it. These were very popular and were reordered a few seasons. I remember black with red and turquoise with rust being reorder colors……Next was a tunic shirt sweater in the cotton/acrylic, and next it’s companion short sleeve TN, my first twin set for QVC…LOL…..At the very bottom right is another random stripe silk shirt. [this may be a reorder from the previous years stripe shirt in new colors, memory fails]. There was also a long suede skirt [sketch #2], and a pair of pull-on knit pants and long straight knit skirt in colors to go with the group.

I have decided there has been enough commentary about my statement. I will trash all comments whether they agree or disagree, pro or con with what I said. I see now that it was a big mistake and opened the door to all kinds of statements, both true and false. A lot of assumptions have been made about what I believe in, and from comments made I can see it goes far beyond what I said….so I will put an end to it on my website…I will trash any references because we should ALL MOVE ON…..I’s rather not be a policeman of my own website so please refrain…….I hope you understand.